HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Fire Pension 072623CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS
FIREFIGHTERS' PENSION BOARD OF TRUSTEES
QUARTERLY MEETING MINUTES
City Hall, Council Chambers
10500 North Military Trail, Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33410
Wednesday, July 26, 2023, at 1:OOPM
TRUSTEES PRESENT: Rick Rhodes
Eric Bruns
Jon Currier
Mike Zingaro
Thomas Topor
TRUSTEES ABSENT: None
OTHERS PRESENT: Siera Feketa, Foster & Foster
John Thinnes, AndCo Consulting
Madison Levine, Sugarman & Susskind
Jennifer Trotter, Mauldin & Jenkins
1. Call to Order — Rick Rhodes called the meeting to order at 1:OOPM.
2. Roll Call — As reflected above.
3. Public Comments — None.
4. Approval of Minutes
a. April 26, 2023, quarterly meeting
The Board approved the April 26 2023 quarterly meeting minutes with upon motion by Eric Bruns
and second by Jon Currier; motion carried 3-0
Note: Mike Zingaro arrived at 1:01 PM.
5. New Business
a. Proposed 2024 meeting dates
i. Rick Rhodes reviewed the 2024 meeting dates. The Board had no issues with the dates.
The Board approved the proposed meeting dates as presented upon motion by Jon Currier and
second by Eric Bruns; motion carried 4.0.
Form PF-30 (Entitlement to Share Plan Funds for Members Who Terminate with a Right to a
Vested Deferred Benefit)
i. Siera Feketa reviewed the form and the purpose of the form. Siera recommended tabling
this agenda item so she could work with Pedro Herrera to confirm the form was necessary.
ii. Mike Zingaro and Siera Feketa briefly discussed the form and vested deferred participants
further. The Board agreed by consensus to table this item for when Pedro Herrera was
present.
Note: Thomas Topor arrived at 1:03PM.
c. Overpayment of DROP — Michael Kelly
i. Siera Feketa reviewed the situation with Mike Kelly's DROP payment. Siera
commented they overpaid $13,000 and discussed how that occurred. Siera reviewed the
internal procedures that were changed to prevent this in the future. The Board discussed
the overpayment and requested the plan administrator send Mike Kelly a consent letter
to sign for the deduction from his share plan account.
The Board approved deducting the overpayment from Mike Kelly's Share Plan Account and directed
the plan administrator to send a consent letter to sign agreeing to the deduction upon motion by
Eric Bruns and second by Mike Zingaro; motion carried 5-0
d. Proposed FY2023-2024 budget
i. Eric Bruns asked if they over budget a little to make sure they didn't spend over the
budgeted amount. Siera Feketa commented that was correct and briefly reviewed the
budget requirement. The Board briefly discussed the budget and commented that the
increase was $2,000.
The Board approved the budget as presented upon motion by Jon Currier and second by Mike
Zingaro, motion carried 5-0.
e. Upcoming Trustee term expirations
i. Rick Rhodes reviewed the term expirations of Eric Bruns and Thomas Topor, that expire
in September.
ii. Siera Feketa asked if they wanted to serve another term. Eric Bruns commented he would
not serve another term because he may be moving. Thomas Topor commented he wanted
to serve another term. Rick Rhodes thanked Eric for his service.
f. Purchase of prior service time
i. Mike Zingaro discussed a member who wanted to purchase prior service time. Mike
commented they participated in a 401a and was told they couldn't buy the time. Siera
Feketa commented they couldn't purchase the time because the 401a formed the basis
of a retirement benefit as he received employer contributions and interest. Madison
Levine confirmed that was correct.
6. Old Business — None.
Reports
a. Mauldin & Jenkins, Jennifer Trotter, Board Auditor
i. September 30, 2022, audit report
1. Jennifer Trotter briefly discussed the independent auditor's report and commented
they were issuing a clean opinion.
2. Jennifer Trotter briefly discussed the Management's Discussion and Analysis
3. Jennifer Trotter reviewed the statements of fiduciary net position.
4. Jennifer Trotter reviewed the statements of changes in fiduciary net position.
5. Jennifer Trotter reviewed the notes to the financial statements.
6. Jennifer Trotter briefly reviewed the required supplementary information.
7. Jennifer Trotter reviewed the Discussion & Analysis Financial and Compliance
Audit Summary.
8. Jennifer Trotter commented the only issue was that there were errors related to
salary information provided by the actuary for eight members. Jennifer commented
the City provided the correct salary, but the actuary had incorrect salary. Jennifer
recommended the plan administrator review the salary.
9. Rick Rhodes commented he wanted Siera Feketa to do a full review of the salary
information of all participants. Siera commented that she thought this was taken
care of so she would look further into it. Siera commented that would be a special
project so she'd like to get back to them to see how long that would take and how
this came up. Rick asked for an update on how this occurred. Siera Feketa
reminded the Board that the data the actuary had comes from the City.
10. Mike Zingaro asked how often they got the data from the City. Siera Feketa
commented they got the data biweekly for the portal.
11. Siera Feketa commented she would look further into this and get back to the Board.
The Board approved the September 30 2022 audit report as presented upon motion by Jon Currier
and second by Eric Bruns; motion carried 5-0
12. Thomas Topor acknowledged the years of experience the auditing firm had.
AndCo Consulting, John Thinnes, Investment Consultant
i. Quarterly report through June 30, 2023
1. John Thinnes gave an update on the market environment for the quarter.
2. John Thinnes reviewed the asset allocation and the changes they made in the
plan.
3. John Thinnes reviewed the asset allocation compliance.
4. John Thinnes reviewed the financial reconciliation.
5. The preliminary Market Value of Assets as of June 30, 2023, was $138,816,533.
6. The total fund preliminary gross returns for the quarter were 3.44%, slightly
underperforming the benchmark of 4.06%. The total fund trailing gross returns for
the 1, 3, 5, 7, and 10-year periods were 9.52%, 7.25%, 6.47%, 7.92% and 8.06%
respectively. Since inception (May 1, 1998), total fund gross returns were 6.33%,
slightly underperforming the benchmark of 6.35%.
7. John Thinnes discussed the performance of the investment managers and how
they impact the portfolio.
8. Jon Currier asked for a brief review of Mavik. John Thinnes gave a brief review of
how that investment worked.
9. Rick Rhodes asked where the compliance checklist was. John Thinnes reviewed
the performance of each of their managers and where they fell on the compliance
checklist.
10. John Thinnes and the Board discussed the real estate market.
11. Rick Rhodes commented last year Intercontinental was paid a performance fee
and asked if the Plan will get any of that fee back if they don't maintain that
performance. John Thinnes commented the Plan will end up getting half of the fee
back and reviewed how the preferred return works.
Note: Mike Zingaro left at 1:52PM.
12. Siera Feketa commented she found her correspondence with the auditor on the
eight participants and reached out to their data team to confirm where that data
came from.
Note: Mike Zingaro returned at 1:55PM.
Proposed fee increase
1. John Thinnes reviewed the fee increase. John commented they charge a flat fee
not a percent, so he had to ask for periodic increases. John reviewed the reasons
for increasing the fee and proposed a $60,000 retainer.
2. Rick Rhodes commented they had not asked for fee increases too often, but this
was a big one. Eric Bruns commented he was okay with it, there wasn't an
escalator, and they did a good job. Eric felt it was a fair fee. Thomas Topor agreed
and discussed his thoughts.
3. Rick Rhodes commented he wanted to see a 4-year guarantee since he waited
that long to ask for an increase anyway.
4. Rick Rhodes commented he was very happy with their work over the years and
discussed their long-standing relationship with AndCo.
5. Mike Zingaro asked if it was standard to be on a flat fee or basis points. John
Thinnes commented in the Florida market, it was generally a flat fee.
6. John Thinnes and the Board discussed the fee increase.
7. Rick Rhodes asked if it only required an addendum to the contract. Madison
Levine commented if there were more than 3 or 4 addendums, then she would just
do a new contract.
The Board approved the proposed fee guaranteed through fiscal year end 2027 upon motion by
Eric Bruns and second by Jon Currier; motion carried 5-0
2. Sugarman and Susskind, Pedro Herrera, Board Attorney
i. House Bill 3 Special Report
Madison Levine discussed House Bill 3 and commented they could only invest
based on pecuniary factors. Madison reviewed the additional reporting
requirements.
Madison Levine commented they had an Investment Policy Statement (IPS) that
had been updated to comply with the new law. John Thinnes briefly discussed
the changes to the IPS.
The Board approved the Investment Policy Statement as presented upon motion by Jon Currier
and second by Eric Bruns; motion carried 5-0
3. Madison Levine commented they were still waiting on some guidelines from the
State.
4. Mike Zingaro asked if that impacted their fees. John Thinnes commented it did
not, and briefly discussed the requirements.
Share Plan Policy
1. Madison Levine reviewed the changes to the Share Plan Policy. The Board and
Siera Feketa discussed the policy and the changes made. The Board agreed
they were comfortable with the policy.
The Board approved the Share Plan Policy as presented upon motion by Thomas Topor and
second by Eric Bruns; motion carried 5-0
8. Consent Agenda
a. Payment ratification
i. Warrants #61, #62
b. Payment approval
i. None
C. Fund activity report for April 20, 2023 — July 19, 2023
The Board approved the Consent Agenda as presented upon motion by Eric Bruns and second by
Mike Zingaro; motion carried 5-0.
9. Staff Reports, Discussion and Action
a. Foster & Foster, Siera Feketa, Plan Administrator
i. Update on State Annual Report
1. Siera Feketa gave an update on the State Annual Report. Siera commented the
State was requesting an ordinance and impact statement for the Foster & Foster
cancer presumptions. Siera commented the City opted not to adopt this previously
when the Board recommended it, but her understanding was that they needed to
be adopted next year to get the State Monies.
2. Siera Feketa commented her understanding was this year the State was just
requiring an ordinance and impact statement.
ii. Financial disclosure forms
1. Siera Feketa commented all trustees filed their financial disclosure forms.
iii. Upcoming educational opportunities
1. Siera Feketa reviewed the upcoming FPPTA Fall Trustees School from October 1,
2023, to October 4, 2023, in Ponte Vedra, FL.
2. Siera Feketa gave a further update on the salary issue brought up by the auditor.
Siera commented the data team at Foster & Foster had some incorrect formulas
in the spreadsheet, causing the salary to be off, but they had been fixed.
3. Siera Feketa reminded the Board they approved their contract with an annual
increase of consumer price index (CPI) with a range of 1.00% to 5.00%. Siera
informed the Board the CPI was 3.00% and that went into effect October 1, 2023.
4. Siera Feketa informed the Board they would no longer provide hard copy agenda
packets as they would bring e-readers to future meetings.
10. Old Business — None.
11. Trustee's Reports, Discussion and Action — None.
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12. Adiournment — The meeting was adjourned at 2:25PM.
13. Next Meeting. — October 25, 2023, at 1:OOPM, quarterly meeting.
Respectfully submitted by: Approved by:
5rera Feketa, Plan Administrator Currier, Secretary
Date Approved by the Pension Board: I t) I `Zs 1 Z 3
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